I'm behind :/ I only wrote 200 odd words yesterday - I need to make it up or else I'll be consistently behind. I can't guarantee I'll be able to write every day in the coming weeks, mental illness is a beep.

I have been doing NaNoWriMo this year and it is the first time all year that I have written.

I will admit I am a NaNoWriMo overachiever and as such do have a few tips for getting to that elusive 50k.

If you are worried about your novel not stretching far enough you could use some words to get to know your characters better or challenge one of the minor characters to do something which affects your story line.

Yeah, I worry about this every NaNoWriMo. It's stopped me from reaching 50K before. This year I picked an idea where there are multiple POV chapters from different characters in very different circumstances. So hopefully if I get stuck on one, I can jump to a different character and press on.

unless I include the chapter where Dan & Jessie turn into lovey smut-puppies.
Then it's the Halloween Dance, and the party, and then they all turn into cute, cuddly smut-puppy-lovers... but they're finally all in love ... And they create the Lovers Garden ... then they have to go back to school ... and plan their lives together, and... and then I'm at 90k... and the sad part
The sad part makes me sad. No fair!

Yeah, I worry about this every NaNoWriMo. It's stopped me from reaching 50K before. This year I picked an idea where there are multiple POV chapters from different characters in very different circumstances. So hopefully if I get stuck on one, I can jump to a different character and press on.

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This is good advice, and something I'm thinking about doing. Right now I'm in an interesting spot, because all this everyday-ish stuff is happening down on my planet's surface while the aliens are slowly readying their invasion. I need to plant my seeds well, otherwise the reader might feel cheated when the alien armada shows up without much to hint at what's about to happen.

Oh well, I still have from now until midnight, and from then until I go to sleep. Maybe I can turn 76 into 760 at least.

I'm under 'movieman' if anyone wants to add me. I'll be writing the sequel to my 2016 NaNo novel.

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Are you the movieman who's running back to Saskatoon?

I been hangin' around libraries
I been learnin' 'bout books
I been talkin' to play writers
I been workin' on words, phrases
Moose Jaw, Broadview, Moosomin too
Runnin' back to Saskatoon
Red Deer, Terrace, Hanna, Medicine Hat
Sing another prairie tune
Sing another prairie tune

Last night I reached 20.000 words. I'm happy with the amount of words, and I love where my story is going. It's not at all where it was supposed to be going when I first started writing it, but oh well. But now I have no idea where or when it is supposed to finish. I keep getting new ideas, and I keep writing them down, but I have no ideas at all on how it's supposed to end. Do I let it finish on a happy note, do I give it an open ending, with the possibility for a sequel, do I end it at a low point and make everyone feel miserable as they read it? No idea what to do.
I guess for now I'll just keep writing, and if I don't figure it out, I guess I'll just have to keep going, and you'll see me back here next year, still working on the same story.

Since I no longer work in hardware (the equivalent of the Christmas in retail is September-November) I was thinking of doing it this year, but I've found another pet project that is semi-relevant to work.

13,200 words in now! Making good progress and that 3,000 word boost yesterday helped give me a little wiggle room in case I miss a day down the road (Damn you, Thanksgiving!!!).

Feeling reasonably good with what I have right now. My only concern is that I'm 13,000+ words in and only just finished chapter 2. Then again the book is high fantasy and will likely land at around 250,000 when I'm done, and it's not like lengthy prologues/opening chapters aren't a hallmark of the genre. Hopefully it engages. That's what is important in the end.

I have a romance where at the end one character dies and the other commits suicide. My brother told me I should probably consider changing that otherwise readers might throw the book at a wall.

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My favorite romance has a character get injured and the other lead chooses to stay behind and die with him in the building falling apart. They were both injured so carrying just wasn't feasible. It was a tragedy of class and pride from the start though so make sure you set it up for tragedy and give it some purpose. I'll also admit that the series I speak of, Ai no Kusabi, is gay and I think they might accept tragic romance more even if it's aimed at straight girl audiences when characters are gay. People expect us to face more adversity and such I guess.

I think tragic romance can be great straight too; I adored quiet a few from Japan Saikano, Clannad, or Your Lie in April. I can't say I see them in American though because the romance writer's association or whatever it is established Happily ever after or happy for now as their standard. Just know you wouldn't be considered a romance by their strict standards that everyone follows.

I have a romance where at the end one character dies and the other commits suicide. My brother told me I should probably consider changing that otherwise readers might throw the book at a wall.

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Depends on if it is the right ending for the story. If you feel that is the perfect way for it to end, but you change it to something warm and fluffy instead, just to make people feel better, I don't think you'd like your own story very much. I think you might end up regretting it.

I actually love tragic endings to stories. Most books I like end with a death, or the two main characters not getting together. Same with movies. I used to only write those kind of stories, so I probably have made people feel like they wanted to throw their laptops/phones at a wall too. But that's a good thing, it just means they care about the characters. Or so I tell myself.

I did finish the story I was working on though. Finished on just over 25.000 words. And it was an open ending. They were happy, for now. But it was set up for there to be a lot more sadness in their future. I can't just let people be happy, can I?

Missed writing on Wednesday as I was battling a cold and "I can not get sick right now!" (Family Guy reference anyone?)

Had a much better day yesterday and was able to catch up. Wrote 10K to bring my total over 50K. Problem is, I'm not even done with part 1 yet. Hopefully will be able to finish it today - I'm on the last chapter (or so I think/hope) - and get cracking on part 2.

If I can keep this tempo up and not miss any more days, I might be able to squeeze a 200K word first draft in this month but I doubt I'll be able to. Would be nice to have it done before Christmas though.

Depends on if it is the right ending for the story. If you feel that is the perfect way for it to end, but you change it to something warm and fluffy instead, just to make people feel better, I don't think you'd like your own story very much. I think you might end up regretting it.

I actually love tragic endings to stories. Most books I like end with a death, or the two main characters not getting together. Same with movies. I used to only write those kind of stories, so I probably have made people feel like they wanted to throw their laptops/phones at a wall too. But that's a good thing, it just means they care about the characters. Or so I tell myself.

I did finish the story I was working on though. Finished on just over 25.000 words. And it was an open ending. They were happy, for now. But it was set up for there to be a lot more sadness in their future. I can't just let people be happy, can I?

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Mmm. Those are all good points. It's a fairly complex story, too much so to sum up easily, but what I was going for was that the character who died - the death was unexpected. And the point was, people we care about can die at any time, so make the most of the time you have with those you love. And the one who committed suicide afterwards, there were some questions about whether they really loved the one who died, or loved their wealth (they were very wealthy). The suicide shows that it was true love, because inheriting all that cash is worthless without the person.

I'll give it some more thought, for sure. But I'm glad you pointed out that a super fluffy ending isn't always the best.

Mmm. Those are all good points. It's a fairly complex story, too much so to sum up easily, but what I was going for was that the character who died - the death was unexpected. And the point was, people we care about can die at any time, so make the most of the time you have with those you love. And the one who committed suicide afterwards, there were some questions about whether they really loved the one who died, or loved their wealth (they were very wealthy). The suicide shows that it was true love, because inheriting all that cash is worthless without the person.
I'll give it some more thought, for sure. But I'm glad you pointed out that a super fluffy ending isn't always the best.

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Damn! That's beautiful. Tragically poetic. Gotta leave a niece, or a dog, or... something! Just to help us mere mortals carry on...

Man... I have written so much stuff that I have never written before... Police Chase, Storming a warehouse held by the enemy, a Mad Maxesque scene, My story is incoherent but damn if I am not enjoying myself in this crazy ride that explores as many tropes as possible. LOL. Blatantly pointing them out at times too.